Francium General Information of Francium:
Francium has the atomic number of 87, and it's atomic symbol is Fr. Francium has 87 protons and electrons in it's neutral state. Francium is a radioactive element, and it's atomic mass is shown as only the mass of the most common isotope. The most common isotope of Francium is 22387Fr, and therefore, the atomic mass is (223). There are 136 neutrons in this isotope.
Physical Properties:
Francium is a solid at room temperature, though has a melting point of 27 degrees Celsius. Francium boils at 598 degrees Celsius. As of now, there is no definite density of Francium, as it is extremely difficult to obtain. There is less than 30g of Francium in the Earth's crust at any given time. The estimated density is roughly 2900 Kg/cm.
Background:
Francium was discovered in 1939 by Marguerite Perey, while researching Actinium. She noticed that the alpha decay of Actinium produced a previously unknown element, which is today known as 22387Fr. She named this new element after her home country, France. Francium is among the alkalai elements, which make up the first group of the periodic table. As an alkalai metal, it should react explosively with water, however not enough has ever been obtained to observe this behavior. Because of the short half-life of Francium (22 minutes) and its difficulty to obtain, there are no current uses for Francium, the exception being scientific research.
Chemical Properties:
As of today, there are no elements that react with Francium as far as we know. However, being an alkalai metal with one extra electron, it is assumed that, if enough Francium could be obtained, that it would bond with the halogen elements, which are one electron short of a full valence shell. The halogen elements are Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine, and Astatine. Also due to it's rarity, there are no known compounds containing Francium.
Uses and Compounds: There are no current uses for Francium, aside from scientific research. There are also no known compounds of which Francium is a part of. Francium is most commonly found with Uranium and Actinium, as it is only formed through the decays of these elements, though it decays so quickly there is often only a few atoms in any chunk of Uranium of Actinium at a time. The only "naturally" occurring isotope is 22387Fr, though it is only formed through the decays of other elements, usually the alpha decay of Actinium. Actinium only undergoes alpha decay about 1% of the time, otherwise it emits a beta particle. Francium can be created in a lab by shooting Radium with neutrons, or Actinium with protons.
Francium
General Information of Francium:
Francium has the atomic number of 87, and it's atomic symbol is Fr. Francium has 87 protons and electrons in it's neutral state. Francium is a radioactive element, and it's atomic mass is shown as only the mass of the most common isotope. The most common isotope of Francium is 22387Fr, and therefore, the atomic mass is (223). There are 136 neutrons in this isotope.
Physical Properties:
Francium is a solid at room temperature, though has a melting point of 27 degrees Celsius. Francium boils at 598 degrees Celsius. As of now, there is no definite density of Francium, as it is extremely difficult to obtain. There is less than 30g of Francium in the Earth's crust at any given time. The estimated density is roughly 2900 Kg/cm.
Background:
Francium was discovered in 1939 by Marguerite Perey, while researching Actinium. She noticed that the alpha decay of Actinium produced a previously unknown element, which is today known as 22387Fr. She named this new element after her home country, France. Francium is among the alkalai elements, which make up the first group of the periodic table. As an alkalai metal, it should react explosively with water, however not enough has ever been obtained to observe this behavior. Because of the short half-life of Francium (22 minutes) and its difficulty to obtain, there are no current uses for Francium, the exception being scientific research.
Chemical Properties:
As of today, there are no elements that react with Francium as far as we know. However, being an alkalai metal with one extra electron, it is assumed that, if enough Francium could be obtained, that it would bond with the halogen elements, which are one electron short of a full valence shell. The halogen elements are Fluorine, Chlorine, Bromine, Iodine, and Astatine. Also due to it's rarity, there are no known compounds containing Francium.
Uses and Compounds:
There are no current uses for Francium, aside from scientific research. There are also no known compounds of which Francium is a part of. Francium is most commonly found with Uranium and Actinium, as it is only formed through the decays of these elements, though it decays so quickly there is often only a few atoms in any chunk of Uranium of Actinium at a time. The only "naturally" occurring isotope is 22387Fr, though it is only formed through the decays of other elements, usually the alpha decay of Actinium. Actinium only undergoes alpha decay about 1% of the time, otherwise it emits a beta particle. Francium can be created in a lab by shooting Radium with neutrons, or Actinium with protons.
Works Cited:
"Francium." Chemicool Periodic Table. Chemicool.com. 18 Oct. 2012. Web. 12
/28/2012 <http://www.chemicool.com/elements/francium.html>
"Francium." WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements. WebElements, n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2012.